[ldavidcooke]

Hey All,

I just wanted to share I am in the process of moving towards a new OS. After 3 months of researching and evaluation I finally have a OS environment I can carry on my keychain.

It is based on the BSD unix-like Free-BSD platform. It is called Isotope PC-BSD 9.X. I have been able to load and get reasonable performance on a USB 3.0 SDXC Reader using a UTS-1 SDHC 16Gb drive. (You have to use the LXDE desktop rather then the KDE for less then 20Gb of drive space. My next test will be a full base KDE environment on a 32Gb. Followed this Fall by a Free-BSD server test bed on a 64Gb UTS-1 SDXC drive.

By loading the Seamonkey browser and accompanying composer (authoring tool). This creates an easy base system with shirt pocket portability. Walk up to any dual core or newer BIOS driven/Intel/i386 platform and select the usb boot option from the boot stack. (Older Pentium 4 or equiv. systems can be used; however, you generally have to remove the IDE/SATA connection from the C: drive.)

The installation should require a bootable 8Gb USB drive. You can use either the live PC-BSD DVD LXDE solution or MS Windows (XP-Win7 inclusive, just the steps change according to the installation OS.

In simple form the steps are:

1. Create a bootable 8Gb USB memory stick.

2. Download and unzip PC-BSD 9 to your PC.

3. Write the inetallation image to the 8Gb USB memory stick.

4. Boot off the memory stick with a target 16Gb, 30Mb/sec (bare minimum) Solid State drive, whether USB memory stick/reader, SDHC or SSD is your choice, (let your wallet be your guide).

*Note: Do not modify the target drive, insure you can see the drive in your initial OS and can both read/write to/from it.

After booting from the USB drive follow the instructions. For a 16Gb drive only load the base system and the LXDE desktop. With a 32Gb drive you can choose to add the KDE or Gnome desktop. With a 64Gb target drive you can add Samba or the Web server. With a 128Gb drive you can load all functions. (Just insure if you are using a drive greater then 16Gb you are using a USB 3.0 stick/reader capable of UTS as a minimum with at least a 45Mb/sec write speed.)

As this OS comes with Linux compatibility it is capable of loading and running many Linux apps. If I get to the point of carrying a weather server on a key fob I will write back to share that with you. In the meantime, if you have limited resources and an older cpu system about consider testing this out.

(Note: The ability to work with Tablet ARM cpu systems and touch screens is not completed to my knowledge. (Because it requires root/administrator access to define the boot drive, this may have to wait for a Tablet OS version which allows both root and drive mounting control.))

[PK2]

I'm curious (as I guess others might be) in what led you to PC-BSD over some Linux clone. I too am changing OS but although I've been a long term (mostly from 8-15 years ago) fan of FreeBSD for server type applications I decided Ubuntu seemed simpler for laptop use.

[ldavidcooke]

PK2, on 24 May 2012 - 12:44, said:

I'm curious (as I guess others might be) in what led you to PC-BSD over some Linux clone. I too am changing OS but although I've been a long term (mostly from 8-15 years ago) fan of FreeBSD for server type applications I decided Ubuntu seemed simpler for laptop use.

Hey Peter,

Two things actualy pushed me to BSD, 1:1 multi-threading at the Kernal and User space. Secondly, Adobe support out of the box with the simplicity of app additions/updates.

I was experimenting with Fedora many years ago as a low cost alternative, especially since it had Red Hat support as an alternative to SCOs Unixware 2 and later 7. The idea was to have a low cost platform for supporting the Remedy CRM system. (As the seat cost was pretty high, I was trying to develop a small business platform so they could be ISO 9000 compliant, (for subcontractor gov. contract participation.)

The gov. shifted to a multi-threaded POSIX std. that even MS at the time could not meet. With MSs aquisition of Intrex they became POSIX compliant; however, to get to the 500 seat level the licensing was prohibitive. The only counter at the time were refurbished/repackaged S-100 buss AT&T 3B2-1000 boxes if we were going to compete against the Sun and IBM solutions at that time.

The loss of the BE-OS and the Novel Unixware sent major shockwaves through our org. The main two software alternatives to Unixware were, the other SCO, and the SUN solutions. (HP-UX and AIX were outflows from this period... (We ended up partnering with HP-UX; but, only after we could not get a sucessful BSD i386 platform POSIX compliant.)

So jump 15 years later, I am searching for an alternative SW platform that supports User Space Multi-Threading. I have a small group of Lenovo S-50/51 units and primarily use a Tablet as a remote desktop. The issues have been the lack of Adobe Flash support and instability/unreliability/maintainability of the Konqueror, Epiphany, Dolphin and Boat browsers.

In short, I wanted my SeaMonkey authoring tools back. My dalance with PC-BSD 7 and the lack of the latest Adobe support in 8 has been a gating issue. Linux had developed the multi-threading at the kernal (post 2.4-2.6); but, relied on either the CPU hyper-threading or the application to manage the user space. That was fine till you remoted in using a small foot print client/server environment (versus the fat client) or Virtual Client, then all bets were off. This left BSD standing alone, and now with a nearly turn key simplicity is becoming my new path forward for even my home solutions.

[skanky]

Quote

The loss of the BE-OS

Have you looked at Haiku? (I suggest that to you, too Peter).
It's biggest drawback at the moment, as far as I can see is a lack of apps, but even then all the main functionality is covered.
That said, I've not used it myself yet, though I was thinking of putting it on an old netbook for the kids to use - the ease of use side is good there (esp as opposed to my current one which is Arch Linux).

[ldavidcooke]

skanky, on 31 May 2012 - 21:19, said:

Have you looked at Haiku? (I suggest that to you, too Peter).
It's biggest drawback at the moment, as far as I can see is a lack of apps, but even then all the main functionality is covered.
That said, I've not used it myself yet, though I was thinking of putting it on an old netbook for the kids to use - the ease of use side is good there (esp as opposed to my current one which is Arch Linux).

Hey Skanky,

Yes I have tried it as well as, Inferno/Plan9 also a Bell Labs spawn. In truth, the BE OS was excellent as it could be run over top of any number of other OSs. The Haiku code has not been updated recently and may not support wireless or USB keyboards/mice.

I found the BSD pathway to be preferred as it has both desktop and server options. Add to that a desktop full of normal tools and linux application compatibility and the reason becomes clearer to me. When you add the history and low cost, I believe that BSD offers the greatest return for your investment of time. (With ver. 9 you now have a choice of the KDE or Gnome desktop, along with both lightweight and a few bleeding ledge though unsupported options.)

I can also tell you that after 2 weeks of shakedown, if you intend to mount your desktop on a usb drive (Transcend Jetflash 700 or better) or a SDHC card (San Disk Extreme Pro or better) use 32Gb at a min. and try to insure it has a UHS-1 rating. Generally, you will need a minimum of a 30Mb/s write rate.

[skanky]

Thanks Dave, hadn't spotted the wifi limitation, thanks (http://haiku-os.org/...welcome_en.html) so that's going to delay implementation on the netbook.

BSD is pretty good, and I've been toying with the idea of an openBSD installation (I use a load of software written by some openBSD developers and it's all very good). Don't generally use a DE, though if I set the netbook up for the kids I may well have to.

It's an interesting line you've gone down there.

[Flatlander]

I've run Xubuntu (and various other linux flavours) off a USB stick for years. Its really easy to create one now in Ubuntu - it only takes a few minutes. I tend to use *buntu for everything these days as it has the best application support (eg for GIS sofware, Android development etc), although obviously you can compile things for other systems if you can be bothered.

Not sure I understand the advantage of BSD over Linux - other than for specialist applications - although I'm sure it works well.

The one thing you need to be aware of is that flash drives only have a limited number of write cycles, so you'll want to use a suitable file system and not have logging turned up too high.

[ldavidcooke]

Hey Skanky,

I had intended to share a detailed architecture; however, apparently that may not be wise in a public forum. However, as to druthers a USL server with NOVELL 3.12 file server support would be my preferred platform, especially with a VM like MS desktop accessable via ethernet. With being able to stick the entire server on a SDHC device and swap it out and into most any Pent. 4D or above system is great.

Tim, as to Bantoo, concur if you are a single user on the go. For a home server, doubling as both a family desktop, NAS and Public gateway the ability for multiple threaded user space becomes critical. The platform suggested offers both a low operating cost (if mounted on an older laptop with large disk support) and a fairly securable/reliable/repetable environment. Something many small businesses need; but, few can staff for.

The difference with a few notes and a bit of monthly review, even my bride can maintain the system if I am not around... Well at least until they no longer support the version we are on..., usually 6-9 yrs. (The MS Home server requires a recent desktop platform at 7 times the operation costs. Tied in with a 3-6 yr life.)

"Bantoo", may offer the development opportunity; however, it s limited as to providing full services unless you maximize or replicate the hardware for each service. With the USL code kernal, it is possible to let that be resolved in the software, while offering a similar service. It is more along the BE OS model then most of the linux variants, though limited as to options, it is the more reliable, hence newbee friendly IMHO... Plus if you want to learn more or up the ante you can stay with what you are familiar with, hence a bit like the MAC OS-X while not limited to one persons opinion of what should be supported..., if you catch my drift...